Archives for USAID

In the run up to 2015, the British Government and the US are working with developing countries, the business world and public organisations to inspire action as we strive to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To this end, we kicked off in New York this week with the first ever MDG Countdown event, highlighting game-changing programmes, policies and partnerships from around the world that could be replicated by others. We were thrilled with this first event that took place on 21 September during the UN General Assembly, with stories of transformational change from Brazil, Gambia, Zambia, Peru, Ethiopia, Nepal, Vietnam and the GAVI Alliance.

Many of these stories of change, innovation and success involve empowering girls and women. We know that investing in them reaps huge rewards. We want to see a generation of educated girls with greater economic opportunities and reduced risks of death and illness in pregnancy and childbirth. Educated women marry later, have fewer and healthier children and send those children to school. They are able to work and become the doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs who will propel their countries towards sustainable economic growth.

There is also much USAID and DFID are learning from each other to transform the impact of our own efforts to reduce poverty and make the world a more secure place. I am excited by Raj Shah’s USAID Forward agenda and the pioneering work USAID is doing on innovation for development. I’m delighted to be your guest at the USAID Development Forum townhall discussion today and welcome the chance to hear from USAID staff.

In May this year, Prime Minister Cameron and President Obama signed the US-UK Partnership for Global Development, marking a new era in our relationship. It sets out the areas where we will focus our collective efforts – combating poverty through economic growth, preventing conflict and improving global health, particularly for women.

With only four years to go until the deadline for meeting the MDGs, the time for warm words is over. We must take action to deliver real results for the world’s poor. We hope that the international development community is inspired by MDG Countdown and will make ambitious commitments to achieve better results at the upcoming High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in South Korea.

On the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly, I experienced the “Power of Open.” Across town, at Google’s New York headquarters, I joined other U.S. and foreign government officials, high-tech entrepreneurs and executives, NGO activists as well as public and private donors to support the launch of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

The participants at the meeting were a mix of the converted, long-time leaders in this movement of openness and data, as well as some, like me, who were more skeptical. And no help: several of us also experienced the power of the wrong address. Perhaps we should have Googled how to get to Google; the address on the conference agenda was incorrect and had us wandering the (not unpleasant) halls of the Chelsea Market. (At one point, I was directed to an elevator but a guard wouldn’t let me on because I didn’t have the right badge. Not very open. After pursuing the low-tech approach—ask half a dozen strangers “where is Google?” which sounded like a trick question—I finally found it.)

Once fortified by excellent bagels and lox (the upside of the private-public partnership: food), but still skeptical, I settled in to listen and learn.

Let’s be clear. I am not in favor of opacity; I have been fighting for open societies and increased access to information for over two decades. And my colleagues literally laugh at my inability to make it through an hour-long meeting without using the word “data.”

But until yesterday, the concept of “Open Government” has struck me as overly broad and unmoored. It seemed to mean everything to some and nothing to many.

I was particularly worried that “Open Government” might be an easy out for authoritarian regimes. Instead of talking about democracy or human rights, not very nice regimes might gravitate instead toward puffed up pronouncements about how their government had automated the paper procurement process (not that that is bad.) Would the OGP really have an effect on people’s lives? And more directly, how did this effort mesh with what we are doing at USAID advancing democracy, human rights, and governance?

Every year, USAID plays an important role in the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. This year is the 66th session of the Assembly and our USAID Impact blog is dedicated to giving you updates.

The United Nations. Photo Credit: Jesse Thomas/USAID

This week from September 19-23, USAID Administrator Raj Shah and other Agency leaders will participate in several events. This year’s Assembly has a special focus on non-communicable diseases, a major cause of death in both the developing and non-developing world. USAID recognizes that non-communicable diseases represent an urgent and growing global public health concern, and works with host countries and other donors to build sustainable health systems responsive to the full range of health issues.

Administrator Shah’s appearance at the Social Good Summit will highlight USAID’s response to the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa and will present new ways to get informed, connected, and engaged with the crisis using new media tools. You can watch his appearance live at 3:45 PM right here on the Impact blog.

The Agency will also be hosting two marquee events. On Tuesday September 20, we will highlight the innovative ways sport is being used to accomplish a wide range of development goals in an event to feature baseball legend Pedro Martinez and basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo. The following day, in conjunction with UK development agency DFID, USAID will highlight several game-changing programs, policies, and partnerships of countries that have made progress towards achieving the poverty-reduction MillenniumDevelopmentGoals, which were hashed out by world leaders before the UN General Assembly in 2000.

Dispatches, blogs, stories and video related to USAID’s UNGA participation and programs will be found all week on the ImpactBlog.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube as we will also be providing real-time updates of events! We look forward to creating a conversation with you all on social media! If you are tweeting about the UN General Assembly, please use the hashtag #UNGA and if you are tweeting about the Social Good Summit, please use #SocialGood.

September 9: Last Friday, The Christian Science Monitorpublished a story about one of USAID’s partners that is connecting mobile phone users with aid and relief workers in the Middle East. The article explains how text messaging is enabling development workers to learn what’s happening in the region and give out information on where people can find aid. The use of mobile phones in development is on the rise, as phones can now be used as ATM cards and can also send weather alerts rural farmers.

September 15: In an op-ed published in The Hill, Ret. USMC General Michael Hagee and Ret. USCG Admiral James Loy discussed the importance of maintaining a strong development program, including USAID, to address global challenges. “America cannot retreat from today’s world, which is why military leaders from General Petraeus to Admiral Mullen have made clear that, in an era of global threats, U.S. national security requires strong civilian partners working alongside the military.”

After a hiatus, we will be continuing the “This Week at USAID” series on the first day of the work week.

Thursday, September 8th is International Literacy Day. The Center for Universal Education at Brookings, the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative, and USAID will mark the day by hosting a series of panel discussions on how a range of education stakeholders are addressing the challenge of improving literacy, particularly at lower primary levels, to help fulfill the promise of quality education for all.

Raja Jandhyala, USAID’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, will testify before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights on the long-term needs in East Africa.

Alex Their, USAID’s Assistant to the Administrator and Director of the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, will testify before U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on development programs in Afghanistan.

August 23: In an op-ed published in The Huffington Post, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah highlighted the recent DevelopmentXChange event, which brought together 77 grant finalists to share their innovative ideas to discover the next breakthrough in maternal and infant health. The event was part of Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, a joint partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, the Government of Norway, and The World Bank.

August 25: In an interview with The Washington Post, Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, discussed the current drought in the Horn of Africa and America’s comprehensive response to the food crisis. Lindborg emphasized that the U.S. is focusing on three critical needs: providing immediate food assistance, addressing health and sanitation concerns, and helping families purchase food through food vouchers. “When we talk about 12 million people being affected, we understand that behind each one of those individuals is a story,” Lindborg said.

President Kennedy’s remarks to Mission Directors and Deputy Mission Directors from the Agency for International Development from the Rose Garden of the White House June 8th, 1962.

Well I want to – I’m impressed by – I wish all of our fellow Americans could listen to the litany of the countries to which you are going – all of them far away – many of them countries about which most of us knew very little two decades ago, or even in the case of some of them, a few years ago. And the term that they will spend in these countries ranges from what? A minimum of two years, two to four years

Well I want to tell you what I’m sure you must be aware of or you wouldn’t be here, and that is the importance of this program and the importance of your work and how much we depend upon your judgment

Aid, the concept of foreign assistance, is not a popular program in the United States. That is a well-known fact. And therefore, there will not be farewell parades to you as you leave or parades for you when you come back. But I cannot think of any action which is more important to the effort of which we’re engaged than what you are doing and the military advisory programs which are carried on in the same countries and the Peace Corps activities which are carried on in some of these countries also.

The presence of the United States as a leading power in the free world is involved in your work directly. The people who are opposed to AID should realize that this is a very powerful source of strength for us. It permits us to exert influence for the maintenance of freedom. If we were not so heavily involved, our voice would not speak with such vigor, and as we do not want to send American troops to a great many areas where freedom may be under attack, we send you, and you working with the people in those countries to try to work with them in developing the economic thrust of their countries so that they can make a determination that they can solve their problems without resorting to totalitarian control and becoming part of the block – that’s the issue. That is why you are very much in the front line of this effort. That is why every president of the United States since 1947 – President Truman, President Eisenhower, and myself, have strongly supported this effort. It represents a very essential national commitment. It is a burden, but far less than the burden that would be involved to us directly if we did not have this program.

August 9: The Associated Pressreported that on Monday, Dr. Jill Biden and USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah visited Somalis at a refugee camp in Kenya. During the visit, Administrator Shah stated the world has a unique opportunity to save tens of thousands of children’s lives by expanding humanitarian activities inside Somalia. The AP also highlighted the White House announcement of $105 million in humanitarian aid that will provide food, shelter, water, and sanitation and health services to those in need.

August 10: A feature story published in The Sheboygan Press highlighted the work of a local USAID Foreign Service Officer. Michael Eddy, a Sheboygan, Wisconsin native, recently completed working in South Sudan, helping the new country achieve independence. The story also includes a special online photo gallery.

August 10:NPR and Reuters reported that aid groups are warning Congress not to cut the foreign aid budget as the response to the drought in the Horn of Africa continues. “If we do see the kinds of cuts in food assistance that are identified in the emerging legislation in Congress, it will have a significant impact,” said Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator of USAID

In Uganda, we supported a youth festival to demonstrate the spirit of entrepreneurship. USAID organized a national youth festival with 18 youth organizations and 26 youth clubs from local universities. More than 7,000 youth attended the event and three Members of Parliament who represent youth. The event was used to showcase entrepreneurial activities that youth are engaged in and link them with potential donors. Several young entrepreneurs shared their challenges and achievements, and encouraged their peers to learn skills that can enable them to create jobs. Training was held in social media, a skill that was highlighted by the entrepreneurs. Debates were also held on key factors affecting youth employment and the best ways to address the high unemployment rate among the youth in Uganda; the debate was facilitated by the youth MPs. There were even talent shows held in dance, drama and creative writing as tools for youth advocacy. USAID will continue to support youth advocacy on unemployment and follow up on promises by elected officials to create opportunities to reduce youth unemployment.

In Nicaragua, we are supporting access to public information. USAID’s Municipal Governance Program signed a grant with the municipality of Nueva Guinea to provide IT equipment and technical assistance that will improve the work of their public information office. The grant includes a public awareness campaign component to educate citizens on the importance of requesting public information. Democracy and Governance Office Chief, Jessica Zaman, remarked on the importance of access to public information as a basic human right. Nueva Guinea Mayor, Obando Marín, thanked USAID for its support and emphasized that access to public information is not just intended to share information with everyone, but it should be considered a means to make concerted decisions that benefit the entire community. More than 150 community leaders attended the event. The Municipal Governance Program supports 20 Nicaraguan municipalities in the areas of governance, management, public services, transparency and citizenship.